Through the Portal

Chapter One

It started as a normal day; while we were eating lunch, my parents discussed a coal mine they were considering buying.

The owner of the mine, a man named Mgodi Malasha, leaned across and said in a persuasive voice, “This coal mine has the potential to make billions, Mr. and Mrs. Chinyengo. Since the mine opened, we’ve already excavated 57 metric tons of coal and there are many more veins left.”

Mr. Chinyengo said, “Do you know how much coal is left?”

“Not eeeexactly, but our scientists say due to the extra amounts of fossils in the ground nearby, that there is plenty for years to come. Also, there is a very high probability of oil near the mine,” said the mine’s owner. “And possibly diamonds.”

Mr. Chinyengo said, “Sounds too good to be true. We’ll have to go see the mine ourselves.”

Mr. Malasha replied quickly, “The mine is busy all week. It is not safe. But I would love to give you a tour of the mine! How about this Saturday?

You might be wondering why I, a twelve-year-old boy, was at this business meeting with my parents. To make a long story short, they don’t trust me enough to leave me alone, and they also don’t want to spend more money than necessary  (like paying a babysitter to watch me).

Now, you might be wondering why they don’t trust me enough to leave me alone. Let’s just say I tend to get in trouble a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean almost every day. 

When Saturday finally came, I thought to myself, “time for some mischief.” I packed my briefcase (most kids had briefcases to prepare them for business) with my lucky homemade survival kit consisting of a compass, pocket knife, magnifying glass, and a few other useful gadgets which I had either created or found. I also packed some snacks (mayonnaise and lettuce sandwiches) and a first aid kit. 

“Loki! We’re leaving in five minutes. You better make sure that you are in the trunk in three minutes! And if you’re not here, every second equals ten dollars out of your bank account!” I sighed and wondered, could there be another way to live? I made sure to get in the car not quite on time but not quite not on time. I didn’t want to raise suspicion by being too good. I only lost thirty dollars but if I could pull this prank off later, it would be worth it.

When we arrived at the mine, Mr. Malasha came up to the old family car. He greeted my mom and dad a little awkwardly then he said, “Just out of curiosity, is that car an antique Hondoya?

“Yes,” said my father and he opened the trunk so I could climb out.

“Ah,” said Mr. Malasha. “Oh! Before you go in, take these.” He handed us some extremely large maps. My father nodded approvingly as he saw the size of the maps. Paper was becoming harder and harder to get these days because of how rare trees are. I checked out my map.

According to the map, there were four main tunnels coming off the main cave which we were heading to now. Dozens of smaller tunnels connected to the four main tunnels. As we followed Mr. Malasha, he yammered on about how much money had been made from the mine and how much they estimated was left in the area. My father asked, “If there is so much money to be made from this mine, then why are you selling it?”

“You see,” said Mr. Malasha. “I’m having an expensive surgery soon and I’ll need more money to pay for it. Also, I’m letting go of my businesses that require the most manual work for me. I won’t be able to do much manual work until several months after the surgery.”

“Hmmm,” said Mrs. and Mr. Chinyengo thoughtfully. “Well, let’s see this great mine,” added my dad.

Holding our maps, we entered the mine.

Chapter Two

The inside of the mine was enormous. You could have fit a couple large planes in there. The walls were made out of stone and they were darkened… maybe from coal? The cave was lit by hundreds of lights on the ceiling. It was eerily quiet and cold in there. The air smelled damp and stale, with a hint of dust. It seemed like an optimal place for a prank! 

Before you judge me as being a bad kid, you should know that my parents reluctantly tolerated my pranks because sometimes they benefited from them. If I made a mine seem haunted, they might be able to get it for a cheaper price and give me a small reward that might just encourage me to prank again. Of course, if I accidentally damaged equipment or got caught, they would have to pay for my mischief. Then, they would be mad and I would be in trouble. This was all part of the fun!

My parents started using a drill to take some samples of the rocks nearby so they could study their chemical composition later. While my parents and Mr. Malasha were distracted, I decided to sneak off to get the lay of the land. A map is useful and all to know where you’re going, but going on a scouting expedition is really useful so you know what the terrain is going to be like.

Munching my mayonnaise and lettuce sandwiches, I started off, heading down the tunnels. I made several turns through the tunnels for around ten minutes, and then I started to get a smidge bit confused about where I was. I opened my briefcase and I brought out my compass. But when I stopped moving and made sure the compass was flat, it was still spinning. “That’s odd,” I thought to myself. “I just have to do this without the compass.” I tried to backtrack my steps but it seemed impossible. I had been walking for much more than ten minutes but nothing seemed familiar. I tried my compass again, but the needle was just spinning. I was nervous that my parents would fine me for bothering them, but I started calling out for my mom and dad. I guess the mine was so big, they probably didn’t hear me. My voice didn’t seem to go very far.  I started wandering around again. I knew if I stayed put, I would probably die of starvation or lack of water by the time anyone found me, so I needed to get moving.

Just when I thought all was lost, I heard a faint humming. I decided faint humming meant machinery. And machinery meant people had been there recently. And if people had been there recently, turning on a machine, then most likely they would come back to turn it off. I hurried to the sound. The sound was coming from a cavern. The cavern was small but in the middle of the cavern, on the ground, was something I’ve never seen before. It looked two-dimensional, but it also looked three-dimensional. I could see that there was sunlight on the other side of it. But, it also didn’t look like a tunnel. “What is this?” I murmured softly. After a double-take, I decided to figure this out so I needed to do some tests. My first test was dropping a rock in it. When I dropped the rock, it fell but I watched as the rock lost momentum before slingshotting back up toward me. “What the? What’s this? Fascinating,” I said. My curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to stick my hand through. I pulled it out again in one piece, glad to see it hadn’t been chopped off.  I stuck my hand in again, and when I did that, I got this weird feeling on my arm. It was like gravity was pulling one part of my arm one way and pushing it the other way. I quickly removed my arm from the thing. Then, a revelation struck me and I said out loud: “This must be a portal!” I noticed that it looked like there were some berries and water on the other side of the portal. My stomach started to grumble and my throat was parched. “Well, this portal might be my only chance,” I said to myself. With a little bit of hesitation, I jumped through.

Chapter Three

In the village of Idolobhana, it was election day. My mom Inka was one of the candidates. She was getting ready for her speech at sunset. She was putting on her nicest clothes; her brown and white wool tunic and pants and her red bark sandals. Then, she told me, “Wish me luck out there.” 

When the election started, I took a seat in front of my house with my dad to watch my mom’s speech. She was running to be chief of the Idolobhana tribe. She was up first. When her name was called, my mom summoned her magic carpet and floated to the rock in the center of the lake.

My mom began, “Fellow Idolobhanans, we’ve maintained peace for over five hundred years. I want to continue that legacy and make sure that everyone is at peace. Recently, there have been some small riots and I want to be able to help those who are unhappy to return to the peaceful path. We must…” my mind was starting to wander off, when I heard my dad whispering, “I forgot to get the snacks. Elok, could you please get them?” So I went inside to get the snacks. I grabbed some starfruits, bananas, blueberries, cashews, and roasted grasshoppers and started to exit the hut. Just then, I noticed a blue glow coming from the forest behind the hut. It was strange. So, I put down all the snacks to go check it out. I followed the blue light through some trees until I got to the source. The source was a hole in the ground. But, I knew from looking at it that it was no ordinary hole. When I looked down into it, I saw a cavern. That couldn’t be right. The ground would have collapsed where I was standing if there were a cavern underneath me. The sides of the hole seemed too thin, and of course, there was a blue glow. Just then, I heard a voice, but it was coming from the other side of the hole. So, I ran behind a tree and the voice got closer until I was sure whoever it was coming from near the edge of the hole. Then I heard that voice say, “What the? What’s this?” I saw a rock-pop out of the hole, then pop down into the hole. “What?” I thought to myself. And then, the rock popped back up, then popped back down. “That is strange,” I said quietly. After a little while, a human-like hand appeared from the hole, then disappeared.I heard the voice say, “that felt weird.” I thought to myself, why would sticking your hand through a hole feel weird? After all, they were in a cavernous area, which was basically an area with a bunch of holes. Just when I thought that the person had left, they stuck one arm, and then the other arm, and then their head came through the hole.

Chapter Four

I didn’t learn this until later, but it turned out that the gravity of my world was pushing me down the hole, but the gravity of this other world was pushing me back. I pushed with all of my strength and finally stuck one arm, and then the other arm, through the hole on the other side. I pulled again and my head came through. “This can’t be real…but it is.” Just before I was able to pull the rest of my body out, I lost my grip and was flung back to my side. But then, just like the rock, I went back to the other side. This time I was able to get a better grip on some roots and I was able to pull myself through. I stood up and looked around to get a better view of my new surroundings. I remembered reading in Plant Encyclopedia about a place whose description seemed to match where I was. The place was called a forest.  Just then I heard a snap of a branch in close proximity. “Hello?” I said cautiously. I stood still and listened for any more rustling but the place was dead silent. “Hello?” I asked again. Just then, I heard something that sounded like distant cheering.

Chapter Five

I stood behind the tree as a person—was it a person?—emerged from the hole. I didn’t realize it, but I was holding onto one of the tree’s branches really tightly. It cracked, “Oh no,” I thought. “Hello?” the person said. I was holding my breath, I needed to be very still. Why was this person here? Where did he come from? After some more time passed, he said “Hello?” again. I thought to myself, “He must be here to interfere with the election. I must stop him before he has the chance”.

Just then, I came up with an idea. I silently picked up a stone that was on the ground and threw it as far away from the huts as possible. The person turned his head to look at where the stone landed. I sent some magic the stone’s way and it started hopping further away on the ground. When the boy saw the movement, he started toward the rock.

I knew the rock would lead him deeper into the forest, and I would have time to get help. I ran back to the house and started to whisper to my dad, “There’s a—” “Shhh!

“Did you get the snacks?” said my dad.

“No! There’s something important in the—”

“Shh! We’ll get them after. The cheering has begun!” My dad stood up and began to cheer loudly.

***

I eventually caught up to the creature moving through the woods. “Got ‘ya!” I exclaimed when I covered it with my hands. It was cold and hard. It looked like a rock, it felt like a rock but it couldn’t be a rock because it was hopping around. Rocks don’t hop. I asked myself, what could be the reason why a rock would be hopping around? The rock animal hopped out of my hands. “This place is weird,” I murmured to myself. My stomach growled and I remembered how hungry I was. I looked around for the berries I had first seen through the portal. I had wandered deep into the forest chasing the rock creature. The forest here was dark, cold, and creepy. It almost felt like something was watching me. I heard a  howl in the distance, it sent chills up my spine. Not only was this part of the forest dark, the light that came through the leaves of the trees was also getting dark. I remembered that I had read in a book called Animal Encyclopedia about animals that hunted at night. With that scary thought, I decided I should look for a safe place to sleep that night. Ignoring my hunger, I went off to search for some shelter.

***

Meanwhile, in Loki’s world, Mrs. Chinyengo said, “Where’s Loki?” Mr. Chinyengo said, “he better not be up to one of his shenanigans again.” Mr. Malasha turned slightly pale upon hearing that Loki was prone to shenanigans and was in his mine. “Maybe, we should go looking for him,” he said. “Nah, he’ll be fine,” said Mr. Chinyengo. Mr. Malasha said cautiously, “Very well. But at least let me send one of my workers to look for your son.” “If you insist,” replied Mr. Chinyengo, “but at your own expense.” With that, an incredulous Mr. Malasha contacted one of his employees to come to the mine and look for Loki.

Within five minutes of the call, the worker and some of his friends started the search. 

Chapter Six

As I ran through the forest, I noticed that everything was seeming to get a bit darker. That’s odd, I thought. What’s happening? It got darker and I could only see the figures of the trees. Not only was it getting darker, but it was also getting colder. I remembered from a book that was made quite some time ago that it wasn’t always warm at night. In fact, that book described that it had been dark and cold at night, just as it was now. “This place is weird,” I said to myself. 

Just then, I noticed the outline of what appeared to be an odd-looking house. It was short, small, and triangular.  Unable to clearly see through the darkness, I staggered toward the odd-looking house and noticed many more. I hesitantly called quietly, “anyone here?” There was no response. This place seemed to be deserted. I groped toward the closest house and tried to figure out how to enter. It turned out to be a flap of fabric, not an automatic face and DNA scanning door. Just a flap of fabric. How would that prevent robbers from entering? It wasn’t much darker inside the hut than it was outside, but that wasn’t saying much because it was pitch black outside.  If the lights here weren’t automatic, then they had to be turned on by voice command. “Lights on, level one,” I said. When nothing happened, I was extremely surprised. How were you supposed to turn on the lights with no motion sensors or voice commands? 

I opened up my briefcase and blindly felt around in it. “Where is that…” said. When I finally felt it, I grabbed it and turned it on. It was a small lantern I had made. When I turned it on, I saw that the inside had what appeared to be some odd type of fabric for walls.  The walls looked soft and fuzzy with numerous patterns. The patterns were spots, stripes, striped spots, and spotted stripes. Even though these walls were quite odd, the interior of this strange hut was quite cozy. There were some wooden chairs, a small wooden table, and a wooden cabinet. How could somebody have built these things out of wood? Then I remembered I had been walking through a whole forest of wood. The table was completely empty, but when I checked the wooden cabinet, I found that it was full of dried nuts,  a variety of berries, and some odd pieces of jerky. I decided to grab a bit of everything. I took a cautious bite out of one of the berries. I discovered, to my delight, that the berry was sweet and tangy. I quickly devoured the rest of the berries. of that type. I knew from some of the books I had read that some berries could be poisonous and deadly, but those berries usually tasted bitter. To my excitement, each berry variety that I tasted had a unique flavor but none were bitter like the books described. 

I decided to take all of the food from this house because it seemed abandoned. I might need this later. My pockets and briefcase were bursting full from all the food that I was carrying. I thought that I should go to the next house. Maybe the same person owned all these strange houses, and each one had a specific feature. Maybe this was the food pantry house, but the next might be for looking. The next house might be the library or something like that. 

But after I went to the next house, I noticed that it was extremely similar to the first one I had visited. Maybe they had two pantries? But this pantry didn’t have nearly as much food as the first. This place is so odd…why would you have two pantries if you didn’t use them to their full capacity.

Just then, I heard some sounds. It was distant at first. It sounded like, conversation? I had to make a split-second decision. Should I hide here, or in the bushes? I decided to hide in the house. Whatever was coming was getting closer fast, and it would most likely hear my movement if I tried to make a break for the bushes. I started sprinting around the house looking for a good place to hide in. If I tried hiding behind the cabinet, a cloth wall would show I was there from the outside. I was too visible underneath the table or chairs. The only place I could hide was in the cabinet. It groaned and creaked as I tried to climb inside of it. “I don’t think this is meant for a human to be in,” I said to myself. This was odd because all cabinets where I came from were often a place where children were sent to when they were bad. But this time, instead of being a punishment, it was a place to hide. 

I closed the door all the way so I would be less visible. But that meant I could only hear them. The conversation outside sounded quite human. Amazingly, the language was the same as my own, but the accent was different. I picked up a few phrases and heard something about “snacks” and “election.” Oh no. I was frozen there waiting until they went. But the people were still talking outside. I waited and waited. It seemed like hours had passed, but it probably was only five minutes by the time the people outside started to go into their houses. I heard a soft rustle at the door. “Oh no. I’m going to get discovered!” I thought. I considered whether there was a new hiding spot where I wouldn’t be found but I was out of luck. Rrrrrrrr the door opened.

“Who are you? And what are you doing in my cupboard!”

Chapter Seven

I had been trying for hours with no success to get my dad to really listen to me.  Every time I tried to talk to him about portals and portal people, it always seemed like he was distracted by the election activity and didn’t really acknowledge what I was saying. I mean, I know that the election is important, but is it more important than a potential invasion? For example, “Hey dad! When I went to get the snacks, I saw someone come out of a portal.” “Sure thing son.” I waited for more [more what?}, but there wasn’t more.

“DAD! There is a person coming out of a portal. Do you think this is something we should be worried about?” I said in a slow, clear tone.

“No, no, we shouldn’t,” mumbled dad.

“So I can eat all of your favorite cockroaches for dinner?” I said.

“Sure thing!” said my dad. 

“Are you sure?” I asked.

No,” replied my Dad.

“Dad! Are you really listening to me?” I queried. 

“Yes, of course.” said dad.

“Are you sure?” I asked again.

“No.” said dad.

At this point, it began to be clear that dad was just randomly answering questions without listening to a word I was saying.

“Is two plus two equal to six?” I asked.

“We’ll have to see,” said Dad. “Will you please stop asking me so many questions right now? Your mom is getting to a really important part of her speech.”

I realized that in order for me to get a genuine response from my dad I would either have to wait or get something that could get his attention in a much better way than what I had been trying to do. I decided to break some of the rules. Even though my dad had said that it was ok for me to eat his cockroaches, under normal circumstances he would forbid me from ever eating them. Just before I was able to take a giant bite out of one of the big, sweet, juicy cockroaches, I heard one of my dad’s friends Tutko come rushing to tell my dad, “Alf! There’s something you need to see.”

“Not right now,” my dad said.

“It’s really important!” said Tutko.

“Not now! Not now!” shushed my dad.

Harbard saw that I was holding one of my dad’s big cockroaches. He plucked it out of my hand and ate it. As he chewed the big, sweet, juicy cockroach my dad finally realized what had just happened and stood up. “What is it?!” he said.

“Ah, you’re back with us now,” said Tutko. “There’s something you really must see.”

“Can it wait?” asked my dad.

“No it can’t!” said Tutko. 

“Can I come?” I asked.

“Sure,” replied Tutko with an air of hurry. “As long as you don’t slow us down.”

And with that, we headed towards the forest.

Chapter Eight

I was caught. I would be thrown into prison. I was trespassing…wasn’t I? Yet, the person who caught me acted like it was ok that I was hiding in his cupboard. “Where are your parents?” he asked.

“Well, um, I was looking around the forest for some berries and I got lost,” I answered.

The man asked, “Well then, why were you hiding in my cupboard.”

He seemed to be a nice person, but everyone seems to be a nice person until you get to know them a little better. 

“Uhhh….” I said. “I thought I heard a bear coming, and I thought this would be the best place to hide from it.” I had read about bears in one of the old books. They were these big, furry animals that came in all sorts of colors. I hoped that they weren’t extinct in this world because if they were, I would be toast.

“Ahhhh,” said the man. “What is the name of your village? We’ll help you get home.”

“Well, the thing is, it’s hard to explain, but my village is on the other side of a—. Of a—. Of a… portal.”

“What?!” boomed a voice from the door.  He stared at me in alarm. “Hold him here. I need to get Alf. We need to deal with him immediately.” 

Sometime later:

Finally, the man came back with another man that I assumed was Alf. “What is so important that you have to disturb me?” Alf asked.

“This boy said that he came through a portal.”

I noticed that not only had the man brought Alf, but he’d also returned with a boy about my age. He said, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you Dad. There was a boy in the forest! This is what I’ve been trying to tell you about!”

“Elok! Why didn’t you tell me immediately?” demanded Alf.

“I did! But you weren’t paying attention.” said the boy. named Elok.

“Well, you could have gotten my attention!” replied his father.

“I was trying to—” Elok began.

“Well, you didn’t try hard enough.” his father retorted.

Elok rolled his eyes and harrumphed.

“Anyway,” said the man who had found me. “What are we going to do now?”

“Who created the portal?” asked Alf. “That magic’s forbidden.”

“Magic? What’s magic? I don’t know who made it.” I replied.

“Oh come on! Don’t test my patience. You know what magic is!”

“No, I don’t,” I answered. “Is it a special type of concrete or brick?”
“What is concrete? What is a brick?” interrupted Elok curiously. 

I was dumbfounded! How had he never heard of concrete or brick? That was how everything was built! Then again, all the houses here were made of strange, flimsy materials. “They are building materials, of course! How are you supposed to build without them?” 

Alf stared at me hard, without smiling. Finally, Elok said, “You know what? I believe you! You seemed pretty amazed and confused when you came out of the portal. Almost like you’ve never even seen a tree before.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” said Alf. “How could you go through life without ever having seen a tree? You would have to be blind, they are so common.”

“No, they’re not!” I replied.

Alf shook his head. “So many lies, and from a child.” He looked to the man who had found me and said, “Tutko, can you do a truth spell on him?”

This did not sound good I thought to myself.

“Sure!” said Tutko. “I have all the supplies right….”

“No! No! I have been truthful!” I interrupted.

“Aha! That’s exactly what someone who’s been lying would say!” cried Alf.

Tutko was putting weird things in a big pot outside. “It will be ready in twelve minutes and forty-seven seconds. Be ready,” he said.

Chapter 9

Tutko chanted, “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…” When Tutko reached zero, the potion’s color started to swirl around. Then suddenly, a large, multi-colored puff of steam came out. The potion smelled like rotten eggs mixed with floral accents.

“Drink up,” said Tutko cheerfully. He took a funnel and poured the steaming goop into my mouth. All I could say about the flavor was that it burned, like hot spicy food. Suddenly, my arms became lead and I could not move. I should have been panicking but I felt strangely relaxed.

“First Question,” said Alf. “Have you been telling the truth?”

“Yes, of course, why wouldn’t I?” I instantly answered. It was almost like the answer got sucked out of me, instead of a reply. As soon as I spoke the words, my relaxation went away and my arms and legs felt like they could move again. “I was expecting the thing that you gave me to last longer,” I said.

“What do you mean?” said Tutko. “One dose is one answer. Why wouldn’t it be like that?” 

I thought about the amount I was forced to drink and decided not to think about the people who needed to drink more than one dose.

After I answered the question, Alf looked at me in shock.

“I TOLD you so! I kept on trying to tell you!” Elok declared triumphantly.

“Well, you could have told me harder,” said Alf. 

“If the portal is real,” interrupted Tutko, “then humanity is doomed.”

“Why are we doomed?” I asked. 

“Because portals lead to warfare,” said Tutko.

“But, aren’t wars good for supplies and business?” I said.

“What’s a business?” asked Elok. 

“I…..” I realized then that a business was actually a hard thing to describe. “You know what, businesses are very hard to define. They—”

“Not right now,” Alf interrupted, “there will be plenty of time to talk later” 

“Now only if you had been this interested before,” said Elok. 

“Anyway, take us to the portal…NOW!” said Alf.

“OK,” I said. “But, I don’t know where exactly the portal is.”

“Fortunately, I do,” said Elok.

“Take us to the portal,” said Alf. “We’ve lost too much time already.”

“From somebody’s incompetence,” Elok whispered. Alf looked at his son but Tutko spoke up, “Elok, lead the way.”

Back on the other side of the portal

“You found what?” exclaimed Mrs. Chinyengo.

“You heard me right, we found a portal. It leads to some kind of forest,” said Mr. Malahsa.

“Forest? That means trees. We’ll buy this mine,” said Mr. Chinyengo, “and no changing this price at the last minute.”
Mr. Malasha’s smile quickly faded. “Fine,” he said.

“This portal’s going to make us rich!” laughed Mr. Chinyengo.

Chapter 10

When we arrived at the spot where the portal had been, I knew something was off. There was no mystical glow. Nothing seemed magical about the area that the portal had occupied. The only thing that was off about it was the absence of any leaves or rocks there.

 “I swear it was here!” I exclaimed. Loki backed me up, “Yeah, it was right here!”

“Then how come it’s not here?” asked my dad.

“I can’t explain a mystical portal, can you?” I replied.

“Of course, I can. A mystical portal is mystical and, it’s a portal,” he stated bluntly.

“Maybe it’s only open at certain times of the day, like a store,” said Loki.

“What’s a store?” asked Tutko. 

Loki rubbed his head and said, “How do you not know what a store is? Never mind, they are hard to describe.”

Tutko said, “Maybe it needs some kind of magic key. Then…why was it open?” “Maybe, somebody else came through it,” said Elok, looking at Loki.

“I have never heard of such a thing,” argued Tutko.

“But you’ve never heard of a store either,” said Loki, “And they’re real.”

“Anyway, getting back on topic,” said Alf. “What are we going to do? If we need to use a magical key, we don’t know where to cast it.

Alf said, “hmmm….Maybe we could….”

Tutko’s eyes widened, “Not that spell!”

“What spell?” said Elok curiously.

“খে টি ৱাই লে টক পেন চি চৰটেল ফ্ৰেল” said Tutko in a whisper. The planet rumbled. The ground around Tutko started to glow an ominous red. 

“What’s happening?” I said in alarm.

“Oh no!” cried Tutko. “What have I done?”

Alf turned his head slowly to Tutko and said with a blank gaze and monotonous voice, “Just what I’ve been waiting for.”

***

The ground was shaking. Small debris and rocks were coming down from the mine’s ceiling. Emergency lights were flashing. Mr. and Mrs. Chinyengo were trying to flee from the danger. “It’s a cave in!” said Mr. Malasha. 

“Quite obviously so,” said Mrs. Chinyengo. They ran swiftly to the exit of the cave but before they got there, the entrance collapsed. They were trapped. All of a sudden, everything got dark.

“What’s going to happen to us now?” said Mr. Malasha. “I never should have tried to sell you my mine. Your family has brought bad luck from the moment you arrived.”

Just then, a scream pierced the darkness. Mr. and Mrs. Chinhengo recognized one of the screams.  It was Loki.